Fitzroys Weekly Wrap - 13th March 2020

449 High Street, NorthcoteA local investor bought the ground floor corner property for $2 million, at a 5% yield. The 230sqm fully self-contained premises is leased to café Bicycle Thieves on a 7+7+7-year lease returning $100,785pa.

462-464 Sydney Road, BrunswickThe 757sqm Commercial 1-zoned site on the corner of Victoria Street sold for $5.02 million. It has a 717sqm building leased to homewares retailer Magic Dollar on a new 5-year term, returning $131,453 plus outgoings and GST.

651 Rathdowne Street, Carlton NorthThe 301sqm, 3-level fully furnished restaurant building on a 168sqm corner site sold for $2.54 million. Tenant Giro D’Italia is relocating at the beginning of April. Its lease returned $85,000pa plus GST.

174 Ocean Beach Road, SorrentoA Mornington Peninsula local bought the 269sqm café building on a 233sqm corner site for $2.55 million. The Boss’s Daughter has a 5-year lease that brings $100,705pa plus outgoings and GST.

163A Burke Road, Glen IrisThe 185sqm building sold for $2.33 million. Zoned Commercial 1, it is on a 301sqm site with 2 on-site parking spaces.

226 Bay Street, Port MelbourneThe vacant 508sqm 2-level building sold for $3.705 million. Constructed circa-1887, it is on a 254sqm triple-fronted corner site with a 10m frontage to Bay Street. The sale price reflected a land rate of $14,500/sqm.

25 Hoddle Street, RichmondIT support firm This Solution sold the vacant 260sqm 2-storey building to a printing company for $1.7 million. The building is on a 338sqm dual-fronted site with 8 parking spaces.

Prime Burke Road, Camberwell Commonwealth Bank Freehold Going to Auction A landmark Burke Road, Camberwell building, long-time home to the Commonwealth Bank, is going to auction, offering buyers one of the best commercial investment opportunities of 2020.

Located in the prime of the famous shopping strip and just metres from bustling Camberwell Junction, the dominant 844sqm 2-level building is on a corner site of 490sqm and has a large 15.7m frontage to Burke Road.

James said interest is expected from national and international investors, along with astute land-bankers looking to acquire prime sites within this exceptional Activity Centre.

“Opportunities to acquire a corner freehold investment in one of Melbourne’s premier lifestyle and shopping strips are incredibly rare.”

He said the property presented a blue-chip set-and-forget investment.

“Melbourne commercial properties continue to present a compelling investment proposition. With interest rates at an historic low, this is an ideal opportunity for investors to acquire a strong income-producing asset, with a secure lease to a premium tenant, and located in a prized catchment.”

Stockland Boosts Urban Infill StocksStockland has bought a 4,010sqm site in Brunswick for $15 million that it will use to build 10 townhouses and 140 apartments in response to increasing demand for urban infill development.

The 429-435 Albert Street timber yard site was recently rezoned from industrial to allow residential use. It adjoins Clifton Park and is opposite Gilpin Park, and is a

few metres from the 1ha site at 395-403 Albert Street for which Mirvac paid $40 million late last year for a build-to-rent project. Both sites have a height limit of up to 8 storeys.

Mirvac’s site could support a project with more than 400 dwellings and an end value of $200 million-plus, and will be partly developed in partnership with Milieu Property which had recently bought 395 Albert Street.

Uniqlo will join Toll Group in the 60-hectare estate, on the corner of Palmers and Dohertys Roads, and which is now more than 50% leased. Toll’s 44,000sqm distribution centre will be used as a fulfilment centre for Mars Wrigley Australia.

Black Rhino Group Charges Into Craig’s Royal HotelBlack Rhino Group has paid more than $12 million for the 167-year-old Craig’s Royal Hotel in Ballarat.

Built in the Italianate style during the Victorian gold rush, the heritage-listed hotel at 10-16 Lydiard Street has hosted prime ministers, royalty and celebrities, among them novelist Mark Twain and Dame Nellie Melba.

The Victorian Amateur Turf Club, predecessor to the Melbourne Racing Club, was formed at the hotel in 1875, and the royal commission into the Eureka Stockade was held at the site when it was home to Bath's Hotel.

Vendors John and Mary Finning renovated the hotel from 2003 to 2010, rebuilding the accommodation to create 37 rooms and developing popular restaurant The Gallery.